Passion butterfly with the Tam 150-600

[Bill M]

Been playing with the lens a little today. Posted some hummers in Limbwalker's thread but wasn't going to hi-jack anymore. Not going to post them all here. Go here to see all of them.

Gulf fritillary by Bill_in_Texas, on Flickr

Gulf fritillary by Bill_in_Texas, on Flickr

Gulf fritillary by Bill_in_Texas, on Flickr

[Limbwalker]

Great work! That 2nd one is just awesome. I was photographing these the other day and they are NOT that easy!

Like you, it took me a little while to get used to holding the beast. It's the heaviest lens I've ever owned, or tried to hand-hold. Nearly 2x heavier than the 200-500 Tamron I had before that!

[Limbwalker]

What body do you have it on?

[Snakelover]

Those look awesome, Bill! I took a couple pics of a bumble bee, but ran out of light. Looking forward to playing with the new lens more tomorrow.

[Bill M]

John it's on the 70D, I use the 60D for the other lenses.

David, I shot the moon just before bed, couldn't resist trying. This is hand held too.

Moon by Bill_in_Texas, on Flickr

[georgec]

Nice shots Bill.
Looks like you made a good choice with the lens.

[Limbwalker]

I'm shooting the 50D and I don't get results like that with my body. Not sure if it's me, the body or my settings and technique. Oh well. I thought there was a lot to learn when I shot film. Digital is an even bigger maze to me!

[Bill M]

Thank you George.

[Bill M]

David Harkins I wonder how this lens would do with extension tubes for these kind of shots? This is already pretty detailed at 15 1/2 ft imo.

[Limbwalker]

I've already wondered the same thing. Would the IS work with an extension tube?

[Devil1]

Nice pics...was that the blood moon? I couldn't get a clear pic of , it...

[Snakelover]

I'm shooting the 50D and I don't get results like that with my body. Not sure if it's me, the body or my settings and technique. Oh well. I thought there was a lot to learn when I shot film. Digital is an even bigger maze to me!

I have a 50D and recently upgraded to a 5D Mark iii. My new body can shoot at high ISO with much less graininess than the 50D. I can't even begin to tell you how big a deal that is. Since I can use higher ISO without sacrificing quality, I can now shoot much faster shutter speeds and/or shoot in lighting conditions that I could not shoot in with my 50D. Faster shutter speeds make hand held shots much more consistent and also allows you to freeze motion. There are just so many ways that being able to increase the ISO is a huge benefit. I feel like the new camera body just opened up a whole new world to me!

David Harkins I wonder how this lens would do with extension tubes for these kind of shots? This is already pretty detailed at 15 1/2 ft imo.

I haven't tried it yet, but didn't you tell me Spencer uses extension tubes with this lens on a tripod for hummingbirds? That's probably manual focus. It can be hard to use a tripod when you don't know where they're going to be, though. I'm kind of digging holding the lens by hand and using AF right now.

[Shane]

Those are awesome shots, Bill. I need to go visit David, I think. Maybe I can slip out with his 5Diii and big lens in my pocket somehow.

[Limbwalker]

Better be a big pocket Shane.

I need a better camera body now, I think. ha, ha. Those results are just stunning.

What would you guys say the best value in a body would be for me, considering I'm going to have to rat-hole $ for probably a year to get it.

Now that the 7D Mk II is coming out, I'm thinking of grabbing a used 7D. Should I go full frame?

[Wood Man]

Man those are pretty pictures. Very nice.